Paul Maurice is set to become the next head coach of the Florida Panthers, replacing Jack Adams finalist Andrew Brunette.
Growing up, Maurice was a defenseman for the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires for four years prior to suffering an eye injury.
He began his coaching career as an assistant for the Windsor Spitfires, then he got hired to the Detroit Junior Red Wings, where he eventually got the head coaching gig in the 1993-94 season.
Maurice coached the Hartford Whalers/Carolina Hurricanes from 1995-2003, and also from 2008-2011, leading the Carolina Hurricanes to a Stanley Cup appearance against the Detroit Red Wings in 2002, and an Eastern Conference Finals appearance against the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009. He also coached the Toronto Maple Leafs and their AHL affiliate, the Marlies, for a couple years in the mid-2000s, but his most notable coaching job is when he coached the Winnipeg Jets.
Maurice, hired in the middle of the 2013-14 season, made the Jets into a perennial playoff contender. Led by All-Star goalie Connor Hellebuyck, the rise of young stars Patrik Laine, Nikolaj Ehlers, and Kyle Connor, and veterans Blake Wheeler and Mark Scheifele, Winnipeg went to the playoffs four straight times, including a Western Conference Finals appearance against the Vegas Golden Knights, which they lost in five games. Maurice re-signed on December 17th, 2021, with a struggling 13-11-5 record.